The Language of Mud Sculpture by ZHANG Zhenfu

Mud sculpture, a unique art form in China, has found a new language with its subjects at the time of the rampant COVID-19. A well-known and multiple prize-winner sculptor from Henan Province, Mr. ZHANG Zhenfu, carved a series of figures among whom the “whistleblower” LI Wenliang, the doctor in Wuhan who died of the new coronavirus.

While the pandemic is gradually coming under control, those key medical experts in China who have been working hard on finding out more truth bout COVID-19 have entered the sculpturor’s heart. One of them is Mr. ZHONG Nanshan.

During the course of lockdown, thousands of medical forces from different regions of China were sent to Wuhan to help out. Mr. ZHANG depicts one of them in a motherly way.

Even if the death toll was shooting madly upward, the living ones never gave up. Wuhan has hence become a symbol for solidity, and a spirit against the disease.

Artistically speaking, these folklore-like mud works could turn into incredible porcelain pieces by heating. Enjoy!